Getting caught up...........

On Friday I had my birthday. Seriously, they come far too often now

I really was spoilt and received some fab gifts! I got a pair of purple grape colour Crocs from David that I'd wanted for a while now. They are so comfortable. My friend Jannine bought me some jibbitz for them - a pair of flowers and 2 animals - a cute cow and a sheept. So fun!! My SIL got me some to-die-for lemon scented toilettries. They smell good enough to eat!!

I was so lucky and got money from other family members and used it to buy a ton of stuff (thanks to some good bargain hunting!). I bought a dresser for my kitchen from the local hospice warehouse. It needs sanding and painting so I'll post a picture when it's all done. However long that will take, lol. I bought some yummy perfume (Paul Smith Floral), paid for my birthday meal at TGI's, and some gorgeous things from Laura Ashley. I LOVE Laura Ashley but their stuff is so expensive. So I decided to treat myself to a few fun things that were in the sale. Aren't they cute??




My friend has her birthday the day before mine so we usually plan a girls' night out for both of us. This year we went to TGI Fridays and had a fab time! You just can't beat a night out with the girls. My SIL, Cait, came with us and brought 4 week old Ethan with her and he slept the whole time! How good is that?? He's such a cutie and I loved having a cuddle with him when we got back to my house later. I just want to eat him all up :)

My two sisters are both in town this coming weekend so I'm excited to spend time with them. I hope Helen doesn't feel too sick - morning sickness!! How exciting!! (not the sickness obviously, the pregnancy!). I get to have a new nephew or neice! Twice in one year!! How lucky am I????

It's been so long...........

It's been too long since I last posted!! I've decided that I'll just give a brief summary of our vacation and pop on a few pictures. I don't want to bore you all with the few hundred we took :)

We left on Sunday June 1st and headed down to Helen and Adam's in Derby. We had dinner with them and the boys, as usual, wouldn't leave Adam alone! They love him to bits (and Helen too). They played pick up sticks with him and then watched the DVD that they had bought for Zach's birthday. We left there late afternoon and headed to our Travelodge in Burton (we got the £9 a night rooms that were on sale way back in December).

On the Monday we went to Cannock Chase woods and had a lovely long walk. However, we got a little lost on the way back! It was a beautiful warm, sunny day. The woods are a great place for walking, bike riding, etc. Adam had mentioned that he goes there to bike ride and we could see why! We were staying at a Travelodge in Rugeley for 2 nights so visited the small town centre. I managed to find a few charity shops to visit (of course). We noticed that the Subway sandwich shop did breakfast subs so went there for breakfast on the Tuesday morning. When we had been at Helen's, we had mentioned going to the zoo and were excited that they were interested in coming with us. So we decided to go on the Tuesday as that was most convenient for them and it made no difference to us.

So on the Tuesday we had our Subway sandwich and headed off to Twycross Zoo and met Helen and Adam there. Unfortunately the day was quite wet but we still had a fun time. Twycross Zoo is mainly a primate center so we saw all kinds of monkeys, gorillas, etc. We teased Zach that we had got him from the zoo as he is a cheeky monkey. I think he realised we were just playing :) We watched the penguins and the sealions being fed too. We saw giraffes and camels and lots of other animals.

After the zoo we decided to head to Pizza Hut for dinner as we had vouchers that we could use there. We checked on the internet and found that the closest one was back in Burton so off we went. The kids loved their pizza and were excited to have the icecream factory. Adam had one too and I think he was just as excited. We all enjoyed a fab day and we were really pleased that Adam and Helen could enjoy it with us! We don't get to see enough of them, so when we get the chance we make the most of it!

On the Wednesday we went to Drayton Manor theme park. And what a wonderful day we had!! The weather couldn't have been any different from the Tuesday. It was warm and sunny the whole day! We arrived at 9.30 and walked around the park until the rides opened at 10.30. And it was so quiet!! There were absolutely no queues on any rides. In fact some of the rides we could just stay on for a 2nd, 3rd, etc, go!! And others we had to come off, go through the exit, back to the entrance and on again! There was a new part of the park that had just opened this year. It was Thomas land and all the rides were Thomas the Tank Engine themed. They were fantastic!! Some of them we could all go on as a family. And of course they were all new and shiney!! We loved the roller coaster in Thomas land and we lost count of the amount of times we went on. The boys also loved the dodgem cars. Can't remember how many times we went on those either!! We went on a water ride (Zach was too little so David took Nathaniel on, then I went on my own!). We spent the whole day there until it closed at 5pm and we couldn't have asked for a better time! We loved it and would recommend it to anyone!

So on the Thursday we decided to have a look around a few of the local towns so we visited Stafford and Lichfield. We drove through some beautiful countryside too. Some of the villages were just so pretty!

And on the Friday we went to Donington Park racetrack as they have a F1 museum with about 5 halls full of old F1 cars. David and the boys loved it! It's a shame we couldn't actually sit in any.

So here is a few of the pics from our hols. I don't have any of the zoo as Adam was taking pics so I decided not to bother! I'll have to remember to ask him to email me some :) They aren't in order, just random :) Oh, and yes - the boys had their hair cut when they got back. It's not usually that long!!

We're Back!

Well we are back from our week away! We had a fab time and the weather was great except for just one day! Will post all about it later, with photos.

Don't want the kids to go back to school tomorrow! It's fun having them home and having no schedule to work to. But I guess I get more work done at home when they aren't under my feet :) Hope to have a productive week myself. Lots to do in the house and garden. And lots to do away from home. Let's hope the weather stays good as it makes me much happier and productive!

I saw this on Domesticali's blog and decided to have a go myself. This is the result.



1. Tini Tot Mods Paper Dolls, 2. Enjoing the Icecream, 3. Westhill Academy, 4. La Gare de Strasbourg, 5. OUT962515, 6. Diet., 7. Las Vegas - Nevada, 8. Cho Cho Cho, 9. pick one, 10. I'm singing in the rain...Just singing in the rain...What a glorious feeling!!!I`m happy again!, 11. Running ahead of oneself, 12. 1993 Mercury Cougar Dave gave Jo Anne

This is what to do:
The concept:
a. Type your answer to each of the questions below into Flickr Search.
b. Using only the first page, pick an image.
c. Copy and paste each of the URLs for the images into fd's mosaic maker.

The Questions:
1. What is your first name?
2. What is your favorite food?
3. What high school did you go to?
4. What is your favorite color?
5. Who is your celebrity crush?
6. Favorite drink?
7. Dream vacation?
8. Favorite dessert?
9. What you want to be when you grow up?
10. What do you love most in life?
11. One Word to describe you.
12. Your flickr name.

Have a go - it's fun :)

I was downloading the pictures off my phone when I found some I thought I'd share. First up is the picture of a throw I bought a few months ago from a charity shop for £3.00 I really like it but am not sure where to put it/what to do with it!!


The next two are from when me and Nathaniel were gardening last week.




and this last one I took a few months ago of Zach (on right) with his best buddy Sammy. Such happy smiley boys :)

Templates

Well I've been playing around with the template as I get bored very easily!! I'm not sure whether it will stay like this (especially the header) but we'll see. It does mean that I've lost all the links I'd put on the right hand side so I'll have to add them on again! Oh well!!

Tagged!

I've been tagged by Lea at All Things Shabby Chic (link at the side).

The rules: I have to answer 6 questions about myself. At the end of the post, I then tags 6 people and posts their names, then go to their blogs and leaves them a comment, letting them know they have been tagged and asking them to read my blog for the rules. Then, I must let the person who tagged me know when I've posted my answers.

1. What was I doing 10 years ago?

I had been married for 1 year and was working at Leeds City Council with some great people. (yes, I was a child bride :) )

2. 5 things on my to do list today?

Get showered and dressed and get the kids dressed too! (it's half term so we've had a lazy morning!)

Go visit my baby nephew Ethan (and his parents of course :) )
Get my swap items ready for posting
Put items on freecycle
Watch England vs USA football match on tv

3. Snacks I enjoy?

yes. all of them. sweet or savory. not fussy!

Things I would do if I were a millionaire?

Pay off the mortgage and get a bigger house so I could have another baby! Give a lump sum to my sis and her husband and my BIL and his wife and baby for a deposit for a house. Stay being a SAHM otherwise I have to get a job for the next school year.

5. Places I lived?

I was born in West Yorkshire and lived there (in 4 different homes) until I was 14. Then I lived in Aberdeen, Scotland until I was 18, then I lived in Stavanger, Norway for a year. I then lived in Provo, Utah, USA for 4 years (went to university there) until I was 23. I then moved back to West Yorkshire where my parents had moved back to. I met my hubby, got married, lived in rented accom for 2 years, then moved to this house in Ossett in 1999.

>Right, now I have to tag 6 other people but will do that bit later. I have a 5 year old crawling all over me and is making typing quite difficult. Plus, need to do #1 on my list!!